CenturyTel CEO's 2008 Compensation Valued At $7.6M

BARBARA ORTUTAY

NEW YORK (AP) — The chairman and chief executive of telecommunications company CenturyTel Inc. received compensation valued at $7.6 million in 2008, a 15 percent decline from the previous year, according to a regulatory filing Friday.

According to a proxy statement the company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Glen F. Post III received a base salary of $1 million last year, the same as in 2007.

Post also received $864,500 of incentive-based awards, a decline of 36 percent from $1.4 million in the previous year. CenturyTel, which agreed to buy Embarq Corp. last year, posted a decline in its 2008 earnings, but its fourth-quarter profit still beat Wall Street's expectations.

Post was also awarded other compensation totaling $1.1 million, a 90 percent jump from a year earlier that was largely due to restricted stock dividends. In 2008, Post received $605,795 in restricted stock dividends, a sharp increase from $48,672 in 2007 because the company raised its quarterly dividend rate in mid-2008.

Other perks included a cash allowance of $34,320, along with $4,536 for a physical exam and $15,000 for aircraft use.